Apple Orchard!

Tuesday Max and I joined some lovely ladies for a trip to the Center Grove Apple Orchard.  We had never been to the orchard before and were so impressed with all of the things to do and see!  Here are some photos of our trip!

Max in the corn pit!  That is his friend Madilynn in the background!

Max had so much to look at!

We were trying to get the goat to kiss our fingers.  Max thought it was so funny!

Max in the corn pit again, Nicole had buried his legs!

More of the goats.

We nicknamed this the goat suicide bridge.

This goat reminded me of my pet goat, Clyde, that I had growing up.

Nicole and Clyde.  (And Ashley and Sadie in the corner!)

These baby pigs were my favorite!!!  Max liked them too, he looked at them forever!

Max was a little impatient when we stopped at the "potty barn."

I love this little man!

There were some crazy chickens there!

Max is wondering what he is doing in a pool of corn.

Liz and Madilynn feeding the goats!

10 Months (and a week!)

Max continues to grow and change every day!  He is so big and currently wears 18 month clothes quite comfortably.  I am really excited about the cold weather because all of Max's summer clothes are getting to small and I don't want to buy any more knowing that I have fall clothes in his drawers that fit him!  It is crazy the amount of clothes this boy has gone through.  We now have 4 large plastic totes full of clothes that are too small.

Max is now crawling everywhere.  He started his crawling by getting up on all fours, flattening out on his tummy, and army crawling.  Just this past week, Max has been crawling on all fours as his preferred method.

This kid eats everything!  He loves trying new foods and experimenting with his two teeth that have come in over the past month!

Jason and I are hoping that Max gets back in the habit of sleeping through the night.  Teething and a little cold have meant that Max wants to join us in bed at 4am.

Here are some photos from the past month!

This day, I forgot to put diapers in the diaper bag when I left Max with my grandma!  Poor Grandma Kay had to put him in a towel and then as a last resort, but him in the tub (aka kitchen sink.)  Max loved it and thought it was quite the deal!

Max having his first Panda Express.

Loving every bite!

First time with Spaghetti!

In the big boy cart at the grocery store!

Max Rude, One of a Kind!

As promised, here are the stats from Max's 9 month checkup:

At 9mo 9days, Max weighed in at 22lb 11oz (78%), he was 30.5in (96%), and had a head circumfrance of 46.5cm (79%).

We love him and are so excited in all the ways he has been growing and learning!  He has his first tooth trying to make its way in and he has also began crawling... kind of!  :)  Max will get on all fours and then flatten out on his tummy and army crawl to wherever he would like to go, and I mean WHEREVER he would like to go! ;)

Last weekend, our great friend Rachael Hall, took pictures of Max and our family.  Rachael is so talented and we are ecstatic at how she was able to capture Max's personality in these photos!  Her website is www.rachaelmariaphotography.com.  For your enjoyment, here are a few of my favorites (I have so many favorites!!!)

Those chunky legs are my favorite!!!

Some really handsome guys!

Those legs!!!

This is a classic Max look!  Such a good guy!

This one made Jason and I laugh out loud!!!  What is he doing?

Such a nice wave!

Is he in 2nd grade or something?

I think he loves me?

Baller.

I love him!

Our little family!

Iowa State Fair

Adding to Max's year of firsts, Jason and I decided to take him to the Iowa State Fair.  A fun time was had by all!

Max on his way to the fair!  So many things to look at!

The two best guys I know!

Mommy, Max, and Clifford!

Daddy did Farrell's and so did Max!

Jason and me!

Max was worn out by the end!

I think we experienced all we needed to at the fair!  We walked around and took in all the sights (even a cow peeing, which really smelled!) and ate some great fair grub!  I had a corn dog and a deep friend snickers bar and Jason had a strawberry smoothie!  Yum Yum!

Park

We went to the park by our house! So fun! Max really enjoyed himself! The swing and slide were fun, but the wood chips were the winner! Go figure! ;)

Here is the link to a video of him swinging! Max Swinging

Max is 9 Months!!!

Max has his 9 month check up coming up on the 20th, but until then here is what Max has been up to this past month!

One of the highlights of this past month was that Max went on his first Rude Family Vacation!  Jason stayed behind to work and to work on finishing our basement, but Max and I joined the majority of the Rudes on vacation in Branson, MO.  There was a lot of swimming, getting kisses from aunts, and even a trip to the Dixie Stampede!

Max sat in the cart like a big guy for the first time in Branson!

Max with some other handsome Rude boys!

Max wanted everyone to know who he is rooting for in the Olympics!

We went to BBQ with TJ, Julia, and Jessica.  Max was pumped!

On the way back home!  So excited to see his dad!

We got a bit off schedule while on vacation.  While trying to keep him awake a little longer in order to take his nap on time, Max let me know that he just could not make it any longer and he fell asleep on the floor of the living room!

 We had such a great time on our trip and we're looking forward to next year with Jason!!!

Max's Likes and Dislikes at 9 Months:

Likes:

• His dad and his mom!  He loves playing rough with dad and cuddling with mom.
• Scooting around on his belly.  No crawling yet, but we are so close!
• Food, he still likes anything I give him.  A new favorite are pancakes even though he doesn't have any teeth!
• His crib?  Well, I think he does, he sleeps very well in it every night!
• Big boy jammies! 
• His cousins!  He is still so entertained by all of them!  We got to spend time with them on vacation and then his cousins on the Stopek side came to visit on Thursday!  We went to the park and Max loved watching them play!
• The bink.  He is happy as long as he has his bink, especially his new basketball ones!
• The tub!

Dislikes:

• Waiting for food.
• When he is in the car and the car stops moving.

I am sure there are more things I will add later!  Just can't think of all of them right now!

Off to put Max down to a nap!